Ryan the Romanov

As the Royal House of Romanov are celebrating the evil Rasputin bursts in and puts a curse on the family. In the chaos the young Anastasia gets separated from her family. Years go past and the Grand Duchess doesn't give up hope of finding her beloved Anastasia offering a reward for her safe return. This rewards come to the attention of Dimitri and Vladimir, two con men who plan to school a young woman in to behaving like the lost princess so that they can get their hands on the money. When the attractive Anya walks in looking for their help they don't realise they have the real Anastasia rather than a fake. But the evil Rasputin still wants revenge on the Romanov family.

"Anastasia" was one of those animations which came out during the period when I had gone right off of animations and it would have taken something very special and new for me to sit through one. As such I should say right not that it is almost 2 decades later and I have only just watched "Anastasia" for the first time which also means I am most definitely not in the target age group for this movie. So when I say I am not as blown away by "Anastasia" as some have been it should be understandable although I am also kind of impressed.

With that intro done with I had also better say that whilst we have a character called Anastasia this is not an authentic version of the story of the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II supposedly having survived the family's execution. But then most people will have realised that and anyone who watches "Anastasia" for authenticity really needs a reality check. But what they have done in turning this story into an animated, musical adventure with con men, a wicked Rasputin and attractive young heroine works. This animation from Fox Animation Studios has the same sort of vibe as those which Walt Disney Pictures were making in the 90s such as "Beauty and the Beast" which like this featured the voice work of Angela Lansbury.

Now those who know their animations won't be surprised by what I have just said as former Disney animator Don Bluth directed this and many of his animations have a touch of the Walt Disney about them with that look when it comes to backdrops as well as familiar character types. But like with so many animations which didn't come out of Walt Disney Pictures the attention to detail is not quite there and it lets it down ever so slightly when the lips don't match up or the sharpness of the imagery isn't there which makes you think that this was rushed out having not been fully completed.

But despite those criticisms "Anastasia" works and between the musical numbers alongside some epic animated action and adventure it keeps your attention. Not only that the voice work fits well with the characters with it being clear that some of the characters have been designed around the actors voicing them.

What this all boils down to is that "Anastasia" is still an entertaining animation and whilst not having the detail which made Walt Disney animations special it has that similar vibe when it comes to the characters and the musical numbers which helps lift it up to being more than just another animation.